


Fish Don't Have Peg Legs

by BrightEyesIllusionist



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Hydra (Marvel), M/M, Magic, Merpeople, Minor Character Death, Pirates, Pre-Relationship, Sword Fighting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:07:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22083097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrightEyesIllusionist/pseuds/BrightEyesIllusionist
Summary: The Avenger is well known across the seas for tracking down and destroying Hydra ships, but this particular target has some precious cargo, and even with one arm, Bucky is determined to help another prisoner escape from his old captors.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Comments: 12
Kudos: 91
Collections: 2019 WinterIron_Holiday_Exchange





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [celtic7irish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/celtic7irish/gifts).



> Happy Holidays tp celtic7irish! This is my gift exchange for the 2019 WinterIron Holiday Gift Exchange! I hope you enjoy it!!
> 
> Prompt: Bucky Barnes is the first mate of Captain Rogers’ pirate crew. While raiding an enemy ship, he discovers the greatest treasure ever – a mer-person (Tony Stark, btw). Mer-people are said to be able to grant a person’s greatest desire. For a price.

Bucky glared at the horizon from his place at the bow of the Avenger. The ship in front of them dark at the edge of the water. He grit his teeth and curled his hand into a fist against the railing, fingernails digging into the wood. 

He could hear Steve behind him, bellowing orders. They were making good ground against the ship and soon they would be in firing range. 

"FIRE!" Steve called, and the loud "CRASH" of the cannons answered him. The ship shook slightly under Bucky's feet and he watched their target as the cannonball flew towards it. 

They missed the first shot, but it didn't matter much. They would catch up soon enough. 

"FIRE!" he heard Steve shout again, and this time, the cannonball flew true and crashed into the side of the ship. Not a perfect hit, but it did enough damage that the rest of the Avenger's crew cheered behind him.

The battle was over quickly. HYDRA ships were formidable, but predictable, and it gave up after taking another few shots.

As they pulled up next to the ship, they could see just how poorly it was doing. It’s sails torn and planks splintered and scratched. Holes were torn in its side, and it was riding lower than it should have been. The part that Bucky liked to see best, though, was that the large, red tentacled skull on the bow had been blown into pieces. 

“We’ve got them now.” Steve said, coming up next to him. “They gave us a good run though, this time.”

Bucky grunted. They’d been chasing this ship for days now. He was just glad to have the chance to wipe another HYDRA ship off the map.

Steve placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezes gently. “Let’s get started then.” He turned to the rest of the crew and drew his sword, raising it into the air. "Boarding party! Let's get over there and take care of our new property!" 

The crew shouted in excitement, getting their equipment ready to latch onto the ship and swing over.

Bucky followed the crew over once the rest of the raiding party had crossed. He grasped a rope and wrapped it around his arm to help hold his weight as he swung over. It had taken him awhile to master that trick with only one arm, but it worked pretty well now. 

The fighting on the HYDRA ship's deck was already in full swing. Most of the enemy was occupied by the crew and they were fighting with gusto. Clint and Natasha, the first over, were tag teaming while fighting five opponents. Their complementary style easily overwhelming their opponents. On the other side of the deck, he could see Wanda and Pietro doing something similar. The siblings were working together almost as well as their mentors', but Bucky noted that their footwork could use a little improvement.

"Well this is a surprise, isn't it?" A nasty, familiar voice sounded behind Bucky.

Bucky forced a grin on his face and turned. "Rumlow," he said lowly. He saw Rumlow start making his way across the deck, his sword already drawn and stained red.

"We've missed you, Soldier." Rumlow said. "Have you decided to come back to us?"

Bucky snarled and raised his own sword to hold between him and the approaching man. “Just came back to pay you back.”

Rumlow laughed. “Pay me back? And how do you plan to do that now?” He glanced at Bucky’s left shoulder, at what was left of his arm, and smirked. “You’re not much of a challenge anymore.”

Rumlow lunged forward, forcing his blade toward Bucky’s face. It wasn’t hard for him to parry, but Romlow put a lot of force behind it.

“You always were too eager to fight.” Bucky told him. “We both know that even down an arm I’m a better swordsman than you.”

Rumlow snarled and made to lunge at Bucky again, swinging his blade into Bucky’s own. The sound of metal rang over the deck, joining the clamour of the other fights. Rumlow came at Bucky with an intensity that would have been suprising, If Bucky hadn’t known Rumlow already. He was too impulsive.

And that’s what made it easy to sidestep, stick a leg out and trip him, letting him fall right over the side.

Bucky looked over the side, but Rumlow had already vanished under the waves. Bucky nodded to himself, satisfied. That was one more of his direct tormentors down now. 

He turned back to look at the rest of the ship. Most of the other fights were finished by now, and the deck was splattered with red where the Avenger’s crew had left their prey. Steve had finally swung over onto the deck and stood, waiting for his crew to finish up.

“Good work.” Steve nodded to his crew. He turned to them. “Alright then. Now the real work starts. Natasha, Clint!” The two pirates turned to look at him. “I want you to get to work scuttling the ship. Make sure nothing is left.” They nodded and took off and Steve turned to the rest of the crew. “Alright. We’ve got half an hour before she sinks. I want all her cargo onboard the Avenger by then!” The crew shouted their assent and took off, some searching the deck and others making their way below. Steve turned to Bucky as their attention left and put a hand on his shoulder. Steve looked at him for a moment then gave him a small smile. “I want you to check their brig, alright? Chances are if someone’s down there you’ll know best how to get to them.”

Bucky nodded. “Yeah,” he said, then started walking. 

Steve knew. Of course Steve knew. He’d probably been watching Bucky’s whole fight with Rumlow. And he’d probably worried again. Bucky sighed. He was grateful to Steve for the opportunity to get his revenge from HYDRA, but he was also tired of being treated like he was broken. Like he was still the same man Steve had rescued from them months ago. 

And maybe he was. He still felt like it anyway.

Bucky grit his teeth. It wasn’t worth thinking about now anyway. The lower decks were dark, but Bucky knew his way around. All HYDRA ships were the same, easier to produce that way. The brig wasn’t hard to find. Deepest, darkest, most wet part of the ship. Wetter now that they’d blown holes in the side of the ship, too.

Bucky frowned. It was wetter than it should be by now. The ship was sinking faster than Steve thought. He’d have to get back up there and tell Steve to get a move on if they didn’t want to be on this ship as it went under.

As he made his way closer to the brig, it almost seemed to get lighter. 

“Is there a hole this deep?” Bucky muttered to himself. He turned another corner and his frown deepened. That wasn’t sunlight. It was too blue. Bucky drew his sword and held it in front of himself. If HYDRA had something weird down here, he wanted to be prepared.

He turned the last corner blade first and carefully looked around. 

It was weird. But not the kind of weird he’d thought he’d see.

Sitting there, locked in a cell and sat in a small tub of water, it’s long red tail spilling out over the side and into the rank water filling the ship, was the most gorgeous man Bucky had ever seen. A circle of blue light coming from his chest.

“Holy shit.” Bucky whispered. “You’re a mermaid.”


	2. Chapter 2

The mermaid rolled his eyes. “Merman, actually. I am a male, if that wasn’t apparent.”

“Oh, right.” Bucky shook his head. “Sorry. I’ve just…”

“Never seen a merperson before? Yeah. I can tell.” The mermaid flicked his tail, sending water splashing around. “Anyway, can you get me out of here? I mean, I can just wait for the ship to sink, but if still be locked in this stupid cell.”

Bucky nodded and walked over to the bars. By now, the water was halfway up his calves. The ship was filling quickly. He grasped the bar in his hand and pulled to see if it was unlocked. It wasn’t. He sighed as started looking around, maybe the key was down here? He didn’t really want to go looking through bodies, and he probably didn’t have time anyway.

Bucky glances at the merman as he looked. “Aren’t merpeople supposed to have magic? How did they catch you?”

The merman flicked his tail. “Sure we have magic. But we can’t just use it whenever we want to, magic has conditions. And they wouldn’t have caught me normally… I was just… curious.”

“Got too close and they grabbed you?” Bucky surmised.

“Something like that.” The mermaid responded. 

Bycky nodded. “They get a lot of people like that.” He paused for a second, then went back to looking. “So, you got a name, Merman?”

The merman huffed. “Yeah.” He stared at Bucky. “Tell me yours first.”

Bucky shrugged and felt around some of the exposed beams. No luck there either. “My name is James, but you can call me Bucky.” 

“Bucky? Seriously?” The merman laughed. “That’s gotta be one of the worst names I’ve ever heard.”  
“Yeah, well it works alright anyway.” He felt around one last shelf and sighed. “No key. Do you know where they kept it?”

The mermaid splashed his tail again. “I only saw it once when they locked me in here, but the Quartermaster had it.”

Bucky sighed. “That figures. Alright, I’m going to have to go look for it then or find someone else to help me pick the lock or break it open.” 

The mermaid frowned. “Can’t you figure something out?”

“Can’t do much with one arm.” Bucky shrugged. 

The mermaid looked him over and then frowned. “I guess that would make it difficult.”

Bucky nodded. “Yeah. like most things.” He shook his head. “Well, anyway. I’ll be right back. Don’t worry, I won’t leave you here.”

“Yeah, whatever. Just hurry,” the mermaid said.

Bucky turned and started running back through the ship and up to the deck. The other pirates were still dragging cargo up and he had to weave between them on his way. As Bucky climbed back onto the deck he spotted Steve talking to Sam

“Hey Steve!” Bucky called. Both of the other men turned to look at him. “Has anyone found keys on the crew? There’s a...” he paused. “Prisoner belowdecks.” 

Steve raised an eyebrow at him, and Bucky shrugged. Steve frowned, then shook his head. “No. No keys yet.” 

Bucky frowned. “That’s a problem then. Let everyone know to keep an eye out. I’m going to go look in the officer’s quarters.” Steve nodded and Bucky turned to head back down into the ship.

“Better hurry, Bucky! I want everyone back on the ship in fifteen minutes!” Steve shouted after him and Bucky waved in response as he headed below decks again.

The officer’s quarters were easy to find. Bucky hadn’t been called to them often during his time with Hydra, but the few times had been plenty. Stepping into them was almost like stepping back in time. The room was dark, heavy shades covered the few windows. He walked over to those first and tore them down. The lighting was still dim, but now he could see the shapes of the beds and officer’s belongings. 

Bucky shook his head and started looking around. It was obvious that at least one member of the crew had already done a quick toss over of the belongings and taken anything valuable back to the Avenger, so he started his search in the less obvious places. As he searched, he could almost see shadows out of the corners of his eyes, moving in the dark parts of the room. He shook his head and tried to focus on his task.

“Keys. Keys. Where would they put the blasted things,” he muttered to himself. He pulled out all of the clothing from each of the officers chests and turned over every mattress. He was at the back of the room now, and he rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Gotta be getting close now.” He turned to look back at the door and slapped his hand against his face. The keys were right there, hanging on a peg next to the door. “I’m a bling idiot.”

Bucky walked over and grabbed the keys before running out the door. Water was already starting to slosh over the floor. He grimaced as he made his way deeper into the ship towards the brig. When he finally got back to the stairs, he gasped. The entire lower level of the ship was completely flooded now. 

“Damn it Clint and Nat.” Bucky cussed. They’d done their job too well. 

The water was dark and swirling, For a second, Bucky considered just leaving and heading back up to the deck. Merfolk could breathe underwater, right? And he’s probably find a way out eventually. He sighed and pinched his nose, holding the key in his hand. He wasn’t the best swimmer anymore either. But he’d promised, and no one deserved to be stuck on a Hydra ship, even if it was on the bottom of the ocean. 

Bucky took a few deep breaths, then put the key in his mouth to free his hand and dove down into the blackness. 

The water was freezing, and it was all he could do to pull himself along in the water. He tried to stay by the wall and use the exposed wood to help move faster and keep his bearings in the dark. His lungs were starting to burn when he noticed the dark begin to brighten around him again.

Ahead, the water was glowing with a blue light, and Bucky could see more hand holds. A second later he turned the last corner and spotted the merman once again.

He was floating freely in his cell now, the blue light from his chest casting a glow around him. He turned and stared at Bucky in surprise before swimming eagerly to the bars. He reached through to try and get Bucky there faster. 

Bucky kicked one last time and finally grasped the bars himself. His lungs were in agony, and bubbles slowly escaped his lips. The merman grabbed onto his shirt to anchor him as he reached up to his mouth to take out the key. Black spots started to fill his vision as Bucky tried to find the keyhole. His fingers were numb and he could barely feel the bar under his hand. 

The ship shuddered around them, and Bucky could feel the world tilt. The ship was finally sinking properly. He redoubled his efforts to find the keyhole, and knocked his hand against a bar. His eyes widened in horror as he watched the key slide from his fingers and drift downwards. He reached for it, but as he did, the last bit of breath left his lungs. He thought he saw the light get brighter as blackness overtook his vision, but he probably imagined that.

*********

Bucky came to with water pouring from his mouth. He leaned over and retched, coughing to expel as much fluid from his lungs as he could. A large hand pounded his back as he did. 

Finally, the retching slowed, and Bucky could get a breath. Not a very deep one, but the air rushing into his lungs tasted heavenly. He took another breath, shuddering, then looked down and froze. 

He was balancing on two hands. 

One of them was the scarred, tan flesh he’d always had. But the other looked strange. It was made up of gears and bits of metal that Bucky could see moving, shifting with his weight as naturally as his tendons and bones in his other arm. Swirling around the gears, mimicking skin and flesh though, was water. It flowed softly around the false joints with the same blue light that emanated from the chest of the merman. 

Bicky turned and looked up. Steve was standing above him, his hand still on Bucky’s shoulder. As he moved, Steve looked down at him. 

“You stayed too long, Punk,” Steve said. “You should have left when I told you to. You almost died.”

Bucky shrugged. “Yeah,” he rasped. “Got lucky I guess, huh. How did…?”

Steve leaned down and helped haul Bucky to his feet. “Your new friend saved your ass.” He helped Bucky over to the railing to look down into the water.

The merman was waiting there, his long red tail flicking slowly in the water to help him keep up with the moving boat. 

“Hey! You’re alive!” The merman called.

“Thanks to you,” Bucky said quietly. “Thanks for that.”

“Yeah. Thought I’d return the favor.” The merman chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “Thanks for helping me out back there too. I appreciate it.”

Bucky nodded. “Anytime. And uh, I suppose I have you to thank for this too?” Bucky raised the mix of water and mechanics to wave. 

The merman nodded. “Consider it my way of saying thanks.”

Bucky grinned and looked it over. “It’s an impressive piece of work. I’m honored.”

The merman’s cheeks blushed pink and Bucky’s grin widened. “Yeah, well I threw it together in a hurry, but it should work fine. I might, uh, stick around for a bit though, just to make sure.”

Bucky nodded. “I’d like that.” He bit his lip. “I never did get your name though.”

The mermaid laughed again, more heartily this time. He sounded almost exactly like a dolphin and Bucky couldn’t help but join in. 

“You can call me Tony.” Tony said when they were done. He flicked his tail and splashed some water up at Bucky. “And I look forward to it, too.”


End file.
